Shopping center not same as mall

As a year-round "proud to be a Yuman" resident, I find it hard to believe that there are so many people who do not understand or know the difference between a "shopping center" and a "shopping mall," and how many also continually complain about the Yuma Palms Regional Shopping Center not being "enclosed"!
  
Yuma Palms is not now, never was, and never will be a "mall." It is a "shopping center" with beautiful big stores, restaurants and every kind of specialty shop that you could wish for. It was designed and built as it is, for a reason, by big corporations who have a pretty good idea of how to build their stores and spend their money.
 
They built it for the people of Yuma who are here now and for the future generations of young families moving to our city. The merchants of those large facilities planned, and built, their establishments in their best interest.
 
And after spending millions of dollars, they are there for the shopping convenience of their customers, and to pay their employees and overhead, not to provide a place for a bunch of seniors (like me) to mingle and stay cool.
 
It doesn't matter if the center is covered or not because no one could, or would, walk that great a distance and shop in every store. Yuma Palms is a "destination center" where you drive to the store or area you wish to shop in, park close by and do what you went there to do - shop and eat!
 
If you need a place to walk and stay cool, Southgate Mall on the Big Curve is a "shopping mall" and I am sure the merchants there would be just thrilled to have you come to their "mall" and walk around and stay cool at their expense! It is enclosed, with several small stores and Sears being accessible from within. Most "malls" have a "food court" with small take out food vendors and a common seating area.
 
If you don't like the Yuma Palms center, because it doesn't fit in with your lifestyle, or your wallet, then just go somewhere else, or stay at home and use "your" air-conditioner at your expense.
 
Also, if a store there is too big, or too small for your liking, then build your own. Don't complain about how someone else should have spent their money and built their store to suit you.
 
That is one of the great things about being an American - we are all free to make choices. The majority of Yumans think the Yuma Palms center is a great asset to our city, and we enjoy shopping there. (The cars in the parking lots and the people in the stores in July and August prove that.)
 
And, by the way, we also have three Super Wal-Marts within the city limits, plus one in San Luis, which may be more to your walking and staying cool needs.


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KEN G. MILES
Yuma